Texture material for covering a repaired portion of a textured surface

ABSTRACT

A texturing system for applying a desired texture pattern on a patched portion of a surface. The texturing system comprises texture material, a dispensing system for dispensing the texture material, and a selecting system. The texture material comprises a carrier, a binder, a filler, and a change material. The texture material changes from a wet form to a solidified form when exposed to air. The change material changes appearance when the texture material changes from the wet form to the solidified form. The selecting system is supported by the dispensing system such that texture material dispensed from the dispensing system is dispensed through an outlet opening in the desired texture pattern. The dispensing system is used to deposit the texture material onto the patched portion of the surface in the desired texture pattern.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/539,681 filed Jan. 28, 2004.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to systems and methods for forming atexture on a surface and, more specifically, to texturing systems andmethods adapted to apply texture material to cover a repaired portion ofa surface having a pre-existing texture formed thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wall and other surfaces are often textured. Textures can be an integralpart of the surface, such as with a concrete or wood wall, or can be aseparate layer or coating applied to an underlying structural member foraesthetic purposes. The texture can be patterned, as in the case of woodgrain, or can be random or variegated, such as with a conventionalsprayed on texture coating.

A problem arises when the surface on which a texture pattern has beenformed is damaged. The damage may arise from any one of a number ofcauses such as a dent or hole from an impact, discoloration or the likefrom water damage, and seams left after the removal and replacement of aportion of structural wall member to allow access through the wall.After the damage has been repaired, the texture on the repaired portionof the wall often does not match the pre-existing texture pattern on thewall around the repaired portion.

One class of surface texture is formed by applying a coating material tothe wall surface. Typically, this type of texture material is initiallyapplied to a structural drywall member using a spray applicator thatcombines the texture material in wet form with a stream of pressurizedair. This type of texture material will be referred to herein as drywalltexture material. Drywall texture material is typically white and is notusually appropriate as a finish surface, so at least one coat of paintis typically applied over the texture material to form the finishsurface.

Aerosol systems for dispensing drywall texture material typicallyinclude a system for varying the size of an outlet opening defined bythe system to allow the texture pattern formed thereby to be altered tomatch the pre-existing texture pattern. The present invention is ofparticular importance when embodied as a system or method for applyingdrywall texture material during the process of repairing a structuraldrywall member, and that application of the present invention will bedescribed herein in detail. The present invention may, however, haveapplication to other types of texture materials and application systems.The scope of the present invention should thus be determined by theclaims appended hereto and not the present background discussion andfollowing detailed description of the invention.

One problem with repair systems for dispensing drywall texture materialis that the coating formed thereby does not set in the desired patternuntil the texture material dries. If paint is brushed or rolled onto thetexture material before it has dried, the mechanical action of applyingthe paint over the undried texture material can unacceptably alter thetexture pattern. On the other hand, it is desirable to complete therepair job as soon as possible, which requires that paint be applied tothe texture material covering the patched region as soon as possibleafter the texture material has dried.

Additionally, most texture material is white, and white or off-white isa common interior paint color. When a number of small holes in a roomare repaired, it can be difficult to determine where the repairs havebeen made when because the white texture material on the repaired areadoes not stand out against the background of white paint.

The need thus exists for systems and methods for applying drywalltexture material to wall surfaces that: (a) allow paint to be appliedover the texture material as soon as possible without altering thetexture pattern; and/or (b) help identify where repairs have been madein the wall.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention may be embodied as a texturing system for applyinga desired texture pattern on a patched portion of a surface. Thetexturing system comprises texture material, a dispensing system fordispensing the texture material, and a selecting system. The texturematerial comprises a carrier, a binder, a filler, and a change material.The texture material changes from a wet form to a solidified form whenexposed to air. The change material changes appearance when the texturematerial changes from the wet form to the solidified form. The selectingsystem defines an outlet opening. The selecting system is supported bythe dispensing system such that texture material dispensed from thedispensing system is dispensed through the outlet opening in any one ofa plurality of spray patterns. The selecting system is configured suchthe spray pattern corresponds to the desired texture pattern. Thedispensing system is arranged such that operating the dispensing systemto dispense the texture material causes the texture material to bedeposited onto the patched portion of the surface in the desired texturepattern.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view depicting an aerosol system fordispensing texture material of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view depicting a patched portion of atextured wall onto which texture material is to be applied;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view depicting the patched portion of thetextured wall of FIG. 2 with texture material of the present inventionapplied thereto;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view depicting the patched portion of thetextured wall of FIG. 3 after a time interval after which the texturematerial of the present invention has dried; and

FIG. 5 is a front elevation view depicting the patched portion of thetextured wall of FIG. 4 after paint has been applied over the driedtexture material of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring initially to FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 of the drawing, these figuresdepict a texturing system 10 for dispensing a texture material 20formulated in accordance with, and embodying, the principles of thepresent invention. FIG. 1 shows that the texturing system comprises adispensing system 22 for applying the texture material 20 to a surface24 of a structural member 26. FIGS. 1-5 show that a pre-existing surfacecoating 28 has been applied to the surface 24.

The structural member 26 has been repaired to define a patched portion30 that is surrounded by an un-patched portion 32. The patched portion30 is textured with the texture material 20 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4and coated with a paint layer 34 as shown in FIG. 5.

The texture material 20 takes several forms in the process depicted inFIGS. 1-5. When stored in and dispensed from the dispensing system 22,the texture material 20 is in a liquid form 20 a. When deposited ontothe patched portion 30 of the surface 24, the texture material 20 is ina wet form 20 b in which the texture material 20 has a physicalstructure but is malleable. After the texture material 20 dries, thetexture material 20 is in a solidified form 20 c in which the texturematerial is no longer malleable.

Importantly, the texture material 20 is formulated such that theappearance of the texture material 20 is different in the wet form 20 bthan when in the solidified form 20 c. As will be described in furtherdetail below, the change in appearance between the wet and solidifiedforms allows the user to know when the texture material 20 may bepainted.

With foregoing general understanding of the present invention in mind,the details of construction and operation of the use of the texturematerial 20 will now be described in further detail.

The dispensing system 22, structural member 26, pre-existing surfacecoating 28, and paint layer all are or may be conventional and will bedescribed herein only to the extent necessary for a completeunderstanding of the present invention.

The exemplary dispensing system 22 is an aerosol dispensing systemcomprising a container assembly 40, an actuator member 42, and an outlettube 44 defining an outlet opening 46. The texture material 20 in theliquid form 20 a is stored within the container assembly 40 underpressure and in a substantially air-tight manner. The outlet tube 44 issupported by the actuator member 42. Depressing the actuator member 42causes a valve assembly (not shown) within the container assembly 40 toopen, thereby allowing the pressurized liquid texture material 20 a toflow out of the container assembly 40 through the outlet opening 46defined by the outlet tube 44.

Dispensing systems other than the aerosol dispensing system 22 may beused to dispense the texture material 20. As examples, the texturematerial 20 may be dispensed by using an aerosol system as described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,645,198 and 6,152,335, a hand pump dispenser asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,387, or a hopper gun as described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,727,736.

The outlet tube 44 forms a part of a selecting system 48 for selectingthe texture pattern created when the liquid texture material 20 a isdeposited onto the surface 24 of the structural member 26. Inparticular, a plurality of outlet tubes 44 each defining an outletopening 46 having a different cross-sectional area may be provided. Eachcross-sectional area is associated with a different texture pattern, andthe appropriate outlet tube 44 is selected to substantially match thetexture pattern of the pre-existing surface coating 28. Selectingsystems using straws like the selecting system 48 are described in U.S.Pat. No. 6,116,473. The selecting system may be formed by otherselecting systems, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,842.The disclosures of the '473 and '842 patents are incorporated herein byreference.

The structural member 26 is typically a sheet of material referred to asdrywall material. Drywall material is relatively inexpensive and hasdesirable structural and fire-resistant properties, but the surface 24thereof is not finished. At a minimum, the surface 24 is typicallypainted or covered with wallpaper. In FIGS. 1-5, this surface 24 wasoriginally sprayed with texture material to form an irregular texturepattern and then painted to obtain the pre-existing surface coating 28.

More specifically, the exemplary pre-existing surface coating 28comprises a texture layer 50 with a pre-existing texture pattern and apaint layer 52 with a pre-existing color and finish. Accordingly, whenthe patched portion 30 of the structural member 26 is formed, thesurface 24 of the structural member 26 at the patched portion 30 looksand feels different than the pre-existing surface coating 28 on thesurface 24 of the structural member 26 surrounding the patched portion30.

The process of applying the texture material 20 to the surface 24 of thestructural member 26 using the exemplary dispensing system 22 will nowbe described in detail. Initially, as generally described above andshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the surface 24 of the structural member 26 isexposed within the patched portion 30 after the structural member 26 hasbeen repaired.

The selecting system 48 is initially configured to cause the texturematerial 20 to be dispensed from the dispensing system 22 in a spraypattern that will result in a desired texture pattern that substantiallymatches the texture pattern of the pre-existing surface coating 28. Thedispensing system 22 is then arranged such that the outlet opening 46 isadjacent to, and the outlet tube 44 is aimed towards, the patchedportion 30. The actuator member 42 is then depressed to cause the liquidtexture material 20 a to be deposited onto the patched portion 30 of thesurface 24 of the structural member 26.

When initially deposited onto the surface 24, the texture material is inthe form of the wet texture material 20 b. The wet texture material 20 bcontains substantially the same moisture content as the liquid texturematerial 20 a, but the physical structure of the wet texture material 20b corresponds to the desired texture pattern. The wet texture material20 b is malleable, however, and the physical structure thereof can bealtered by physical contact.

When deposited onto the surface 24, the material 20 is exposed toambient air and begins to dry. After a period of time, the wet texturematerial 20 b dries sufficiently to change into the solidified texturematerial 20 c. The solidified texture material 20 c is no longermalleable and may be coated with paint using conventional paintingtechniques without altering the physical structure thereof. Accordingly,as shown in FIG. 5, the paint layer 34 may be applied to the solidifiedtexture material 20 c without changing the desired texture patternassociated with the texture material 20 in the wet and solidified forms20 b and 20 c.

As generally described above, the texture material 20 is formulated suchthat the visual appearance of the texture material 20 in the wet form 20b differs from that of the texture material 20 in the solidified form 20c. The change in visual appearance between the wet and solidified forms20 b and 20 c may take the form of any one or more of a number ofcharacteristics such as glossiness, color, or the like. The personmaking the repair is thus able to visually discern when the paint layer34 may be applied over the patched portion 30.

In general, the liquid form of the texture material 20 a comprises abase or carrier, a binder, a filler, and a change material or pigment.If the dispensing system used is an aerosol system, the liquid texturematerial 20 a will further comprise a propellant material. Optionally,the texture material 20 may comprise an aggregate material.

The primary difference between the liquid and wet forms 20 a and 20 b ofthe texture material 20 and the solidified form 20 c thereof is themoisture content. The moisture content of the texture material 20 isdetermined by the carrier and optional propellant. The carrier andpropellant are liquids that allow the texture material 20 to flow whenin the liquid form 20 a. The carrier (or base) is typically water whichwill evaporate over a time period determined by conditions such as heat,humidity, and the like. If used, the propellant typically immediatelygasifies as the liquid form 20 a of the material 20 is sprayed from thedispensing system 22. Once the liquid ingredients have dissipated, thebinder adheres to the surface being coated and holds the filler,pigment, and any other ingredients in the physical structurecorresponding to the desired texture pattern.

One characteristic of the texture material 20 is thus that theappearance thereof changes with changing moisture content. The changematerial or pigment can be any one of a number of materials theappearance of which changes with moisture content. The characteristicsof the change material or pigment that change may include sheen andcolor. As examples, the sheen of the change material or pigment canchange from flat to glossy, or vice versa, or the color of the changepigment can change from dark blue to light blue, or vice versa. In anycase, this change should be noticeable with the unaided eye.

Desirably, the characteristic of the change material pigment thatchanges when the texture material 20 is in the solidified form isnoticeably distinguishable from the similar characteristic of thepre-existing surface coating 28. For example, if the sheen of thepre-existing surface coating 28 is flat, the texture material 20 coulddry to a high gloss finish when in the solidified form. If the color ofthe pre-existing surface coating 28 is white or off-white, the texturematerial 20 could dry to a color such as blue or red that can easily bedistinguished from that of the surface coating 28.

Suitable change materials or pigments include bromothymol blue (whichchanges from blue to grey or white), phenolphthalein (which changes frompink to colorless), and thymolphthalein (which changes from blue tocolorless or white).

Set forth below is a table containing several examples of formulationsof the texture material 20 of the present invention. While the examplesof formulations described below are preferred, the present invention maybe embodied using other formulations and other change materials orpigments.

EXAMPLE

FIRST SECOND PREFERRED PREFERRED COMPONENT PREFERRED RANGE RANGE water(carrier)   30%     25-35%     20-40% binder  5.3%   4.5-5.5%      3-7%filler  53.2%     40-60%     20-70% propellant  12.6%     10-15%    10-30% bromothymol blue 0.005% 0.003-0.007% 0.001-0.010% (colorchange pigment)

In this example, the texture material 20 is adapted to be dispensed froman aerosol dispensing system such as the exemplary dispensing system 22described above. The texture material 20 of this example when in theliquid and wet forms 20 a and 20 b is a light blue and fades to a greyor dark green as the moisture content drops sufficiently such that thematerial 20 is in the solidified form 20 c. The user thus knows when thetexture material 20 is sufficiently dry to apply a paint coat on top ofthe solidified texture material 20 c. In addition, the user can easilyrecognize the area (or areas) that needs to be painted because the greyor dark green of the solidified texture material 20 c contrasts withtypical colors of the pre-existing surface coating 28.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the presentinvention may be embodied in forms other than those specificallydescribed above. The scope of the present invention should thus bedetermined by the following claims and not the foregoing detaileddescription of the invention.

1. A texturing system for applying a desired texture pattern on apatched portion of a surface having a surface coating portion with apre-existing texture pattern, where the patched portion of the surfacedoes not have the pre-existing texture pattern: texture materialcomprising a carrier, a binder, a filler, and a change material, wherethe texture material changes from a wet form to a solidified form whenexposed to air, and the change material changes appearance when thetexture material changes from the wet form to the solidified form; adispensing system for dispensing the texture material; a selectingsystem defining an outlet opening, where the selecting system issupported by the dispensing system such that texture material dispensedfrom the dispensing system is dispensed through the outlet opening inany one of a plurality of spray patterns; whereby the selecting systemis configured such the spray pattern corresponds to the desired texturepattern; and the dispensing system is arranged such that operating thedispensing system to dispense the texture material causes the texturematerial to be deposited onto the patched portion of the surface in thedesired texture pattern.
 2. A texturing system as recited in claim 1, inwhich the dispensing system comprises an aerosol system for containingand dispensing the texture material.
 3. A texturing system as recited inclaim 2, in which the aerosol system comprises an actuator member, inwhich the selecting system comprises a plurality of tubes, where eachtube defines an outlet opening having a different cross-sectional areaand one of the tubes is attached to the actuator member to obtain thedesired spray pattern.
 4. A texturing system as recited in claim 1, inwhich the selecting system comprises a rigid outlet member defining aplurality of outlet openings each having a different cross-sectionalarea, where the rigid member is rotated relative to the dispensingsystem to obtain the desired spray pattern.
 5. A texturing system asrecited in claim 1, the selecting system comprises a deformable outletmember that defines the outlet opening, where deforming the deformableoutlet member alters a cross-sectional area of the outlet opening toobtain the desired spray pattern.
 6. A texturing system as recited inclaim 1, in which the dispensing system comprises a spray gun that mixesthe texture material with a stream of pressurized air.
 7. A texturingsystem as recited in claim 1, in which the dispensing system is a hoppergun that stores the texture material and mixes the texture material witha stream of pressurized air.
 8. A texturing system as recited in claim7, in which the stream of pressurized air is formed by a hand pump.
 9. Atexturing system as recited in claim 2, in which: the aerosol systemcomprises an aerosol container; and the texture material furthercomprises a propellant that pressurizes the texture material within theaerosol container.
 10. A texturing system as recited in claim 2, inwhich: the dispensing system comprises an aerosol container; and thetexturing system further comprises a compressed gas that pressurizes thetexture material within the aerosol container.
 11. A method of applyinga desired texture pattern on a patched portion of a surface having asurface coating portion with a pre-existing texture pattern, where thepatched portion of the surface does not have the pre-existing texturepattern, the method comprising the steps of: providing texture materialcomprising a carrier, a binder, a filler, and a change material, wherethe texture material changes from a wet form to a solidified form whenexposed to air, and the change material changes appearance when thetexture material changes from the wet form to the solidified form;providing a dispensing system for dispensing the texture material;providing a selecting system defining an outlet opening; supporting theselecting system on the dispensing system such that texture materialdispensed from the dispensing system is dispensed through the outletopening in any one of a plurality of spray patterns; configuring theselecting system such that the spray pattern corresponds to the desiredtexture pattern; and arranging the dispensing system such that theoutlet opening is adjacent to the patched portion of the surface;operating the dispensing system to deposit the texture material onto thepatched portion of the surface in the desired texture pattern; andallowing the texture material to dry such that the texture materialchanges from the wet form to the solidified form and the change materialchanges appearance.
 12. A method as recited in claim 11, furthercomprising the step of applying a coating of paint onto the texturematerial in the solidified form.
 13. A texturing system for applying adesired texture pattern on a patched portion of a surface having asurface coating portion with a pre-existing texture pattern, where thepatched portion of the surface does not have the pre-existing texturepattern: texture material comprising substantially between 20 and 40percent by weight, inclusive, of a carrier, substantially between 3 and7 percent by weight, inclusive, of a binder, substantially between 20and 70 percent by weight, inclusive, of a filler, and substantiallybetween 0.001 and 0.010 percent by weight, inclusive, of a changematerial, where the texture material changes from a wet form to asolidified form when exposed to air, and the change material changesappearance when the texture material changes from the wet form to thesolidified form; a dispensing system for dispensing the texturematerial; a selecting system defining an outlet opening, where theselecting system is supported by the dispensing system such that texturematerial dispensed from the dispensing system is dispensed through theoutlet opening in any one of a plurality of spray patterns; whereby theselecting system is configured such the spray pattern corresponds to thedesired texture pattern; and the dispensing system is arranged such thatoperating the dispensing system to dispense the texture material causesthe texture material to be deposited onto the patched portion of thesurface in the desired texture pattern.
 14. A texturing system asrecited in claim 13, in which the dispensing system comprises an aerosolsystem for containing and dispensing the texture material.
 15. Atexturing system as recited in claim 14, in which the aerosol systemcomprises an actuator member, in which the selecting system comprises aplurality of tubes, where each tube defines an outlet opening having adifferent cross-sectional area and one of the tubes is attached to theactuator member to obtain the desired spray pattern.
 16. A texturingsystem as recited in claim 13, in which the selecting system comprises arigid outlet member defining a plurality of outlet openings each havinga different cross-sectional area, where the rigid member is rotatedrelative to the dispensing system to obtain the desired spray pattern.17. A texturing system as recited in claim 13, the selecting systemcomprises a deformable outlet member that defines the outlet opening,where deforming the deformable outlet member alters a cross-sectionalarea of the outlet opening to obtain the desired spray pattern.
 18. Atexturing system as recited in claim 13, in which the dispensing systemcomprises a spray gun that mixes the texture material with a stream ofpressurized air.
 19. A texturing system as recited in claim 13, in whichthe dispensing system is a hopper gun that stores the texture materialand mixes the texture material with a stream of pressurized air.
 20. Atexturing system as recited in claim 19, in which the stream ofpressurized air is formed by a hand pump.
 21. A texturing system asrecited in claim 13, in which the change material is selected from agroup of texture materials consisting of bromothymol blue,phenolphthalein, and thymolphthalein.